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Psychologists claim ecstasy may not cause long-term harm
Leading psychologists have caused a stir with claims that Ecstasy might not be dangerous at all.
The three psychologists - two English and one American - have claimed that findings published from studies on Ecstasy, a drug previously blamed for causing possible brain damage and a series of deaths, might be inaccurate.
Articles published by Dr John Cole, Harry Sumnall and the USA's Prof Charles Grob in the British Psychological Society magazine claimed that many of the studies carried out since 1995 have been flawed.
Those studies showed that Ecstasy effects the cells in the brain that produce serotonin, the chemical that's known to influence a person's mood. Use of Ecstasy, according to findings from those original studies, degenerates these cells.
However, this trio of psychologists said that Ecstasy use degenerates the nerve fibres, which can be re-grown, rather than the cells themselves.
The team accused scientists who carried out the studies of placing less focus on the data that suggests that exposure to Ecstasy has no long term effect and said that only the positive results of the studies were reported in detail.
In their article in the BPS they said: "This suggests that hypotheses concerning the long term effects of Ecstasy are not being uniformly substantiated and lends support to the idea that Ecstasy is not causing long term effects associated with the loss of serotonin."
While clubbers continue to take Ecstasy in large quantities - figures show that up to two million pills are consumed each weekend in the UK - the effects of these pills are still not known fully.
Deaths related to Ecstasy have risen in the past decade with the record figure of 27 E-related deaths in 2000. Of those 27 who died, 19 of them had other drugs in their systems and while the exact cause of death was not established, where it has been, the cause has been attributed to dehydration.
Since the article was published in the BPS a string of response articles have appeared in national newspapers. Paul Betts, father of Leah Betts who died after taking the drug in 1995, called the BPS article 'despicable'.
Meanwhile, there's no doubt that the views printed by Cole, Sumnall and Grob will prompt further studies into the effects of Ecstasy.
Psychologists claim ecstasy may not cause long-term harm
Leading psychologists have caused a stir with claims that Ecstasy might not be dangerous at all.
The three psychologists - two English and one American - have claimed that findings published from studies on Ecstasy, a drug previously blamed for causing possible brain damage and a series of deaths, might be inaccurate.
Articles published by Dr John Cole, Harry Sumnall and the USA's Prof Charles Grob in the British Psychological Society magazine claimed that many of the studies carried out since 1995 have been flawed.
Those studies showed that Ecstasy effects the cells in the brain that produce serotonin, the chemical that's known to influence a person's mood. Use of Ecstasy, according to findings from those original studies, degenerates these cells.
However, this trio of psychologists said that Ecstasy use degenerates the nerve fibres, which can be re-grown, rather than the cells themselves.
The team accused scientists who carried out the studies of placing less focus on the data that suggests that exposure to Ecstasy has no long term effect and said that only the positive results of the studies were reported in detail.
In their article in the BPS they said: "This suggests that hypotheses concerning the long term effects of Ecstasy are not being uniformly substantiated and lends support to the idea that Ecstasy is not causing long term effects associated with the loss of serotonin."
While clubbers continue to take Ecstasy in large quantities - figures show that up to two million pills are consumed each weekend in the UK - the effects of these pills are still not known fully.
Deaths related to Ecstasy have risen in the past decade with the record figure of 27 E-related deaths in 2000. Of those 27 who died, 19 of them had other drugs in their systems and while the exact cause of death was not established, where it has been, the cause has been attributed to dehydration.
Since the article was published in the BPS a string of response articles have appeared in national newspapers. Paul Betts, father of Leah Betts who died after taking the drug in 1995, called the BPS article 'despicable'.
Meanwhile, there's no doubt that the views printed by Cole, Sumnall and Grob will prompt further studies into the effects of Ecstasy.
